Wednesday Is Likely Decision Day for Minority Leader Pelosi

Pelosi is expected to announce whether she will stay on as the top House Democrat Wednesday.

With only hours before Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is set to announce whether she will stay on as the top House Democrat, members are buzzing about the rarefied circle privy to her thinking.

Over the weekend, she called Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland and Assistant Minority Leader James E. Clyburn of South Carolina. Hoyer was left with the impression that she was staying, although the call was not definitive, according to a source with knowledge of the call.

And the California Democrat has huddled with her top confidants, California Reps. George Miller and Anna G. Eshoo. Both were with her election night, and Miller was spotted leaving her office the day Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, delivered his fiscal cliff speech.

Pelosi has also spoken to Caucus Chairman John B. Larson of Connecticut, but she has not made calls beyond her innermost circle.

The lack of calls is the latest clue Democrats are devouring in the rumor-filled time since Election Day.

It’s not that Pelosi is in danger. “She doesn’t need to shore up her support,” said a former Democratic leadership aide, dismissing the importance of the issue.

But senior Democrats are wondering if such a tight lid on information is a sign of a leader who plans a return.

Flanked by almost 40 newly elected Democratic members-to-be, Pelosi sidestepped questions about her future at a Tuesday news conference, showering praise on her campaign committee chairman and celebrating modest gains on Election Day.

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words,” Pelosi said, “but the picture you see before you is worth millions of votes.”

Pelosi promised to answer questions about whether she would stay on as minority leader at a news conference Wednesday at 10 a.m. “I’ll see you back here tomorrow at 10 o’clock, for those of you who are interested,” Pelosi said at the end of the event.

But the tenor of the news conference fit with Pelosi’s campaign to put a positive face on the election results, which some Democrats have interpreted as a sign she will stay.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York — whom Pelosi introduced as the “gold standard of a member of Congress” — added his own optimistic take on the election results. “It says something about our unexpected pickups that you all had to unexpectedly use your wide angle lenses,” Israel said. He was referring to cameras trying to capture the more than 40 people on the shallow stage.

Israel said the results improved upon the results of the 2008 elections.

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March 13, 2015

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., right, hugs Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, after the Congressman spoke at the IAFF's Legislative Conference General Session at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, March 9, 2015. The day featured addresses by members of Congress and Vice President Joe Biden.